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NBC Uni taps Madison for diversity post

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NEW YORK -- NBC Universal said Thursday that it has named Paula Madison executive vp diversity, the first time the company has had a senior executive whose job it was to promote diversity.

Madison will report to NBC Uni president and CEO Jeff Zucker. She will remain in her current job -- executive vp diversity and president/GM of KNBC and regional general manager of Los Angeles Spanish-language TV outlets KVEA and KWHY -- until she is replaced.

The new job is seen as NBC Uni's commitment to diversity. Madison's role will be to develop programs and an environment inside NBC Uni to make sure it is diverse and global. She will work with the company's film, TV and studio units to ensure that they meet NBC Uni's diversity objectives and will work with the newly formed NBC Universal Diversity Council.

"We are a company wholly committed to diversity and to a culture that stands for respect, tolerance and inclusiveness," Zucker said.

Madison was the first black woman to become president/GM of a network-owned TV station in a top-five market when she was named to lead KNBC Los Angeles in November 2000. She added KVEA and KWHY in April 2002 and was senior vp diversity from February 2000-May 2002 and executive vp diversity beginning in February 2006. She will continue to work in Los Angeles in her new job.

She was vp and news director of WNBC-TV New York from 1996-2000, joining the channel in 1989 as assistant news director. She also has worked at KHOU Houston, KOTV Tulsa, Okla., and WFAA Dallas.

She is on The Hollywood Reporter's "Power 100" list of top female executives.